Saturday, February 19, 2011

Jacques Swaters, Belgian racing driver died he was , 84

Jacques Swaters was a racing driver from Belgium and former team owner of Ecurie Francorchamps and Ecurie Nationale Belge died he was , 84.

(30 October 1926 – 10 December 2010) 


Swaters made his debut in the 24 Hours of Spa in an MG co-driven by his friend and racer-turned-journalist Paul Frère, entered under the Ecurie Francorchamps banner. In 1950 Swaters, Frère and André Pilette established Écurie Belgique, a banner in which they prepared cars for themselves and other Belgian races, both in Grand Prix and sports car racing. Swaters himself raced a yellow Talbot-Lago in several events, including two World Championship rounds, the 1951 German and Italian Grands Prix.

However, in 1952, Swaters and another Belgian, Charles de Tornaco, restarted Ecurie Francorchamps, a racing stable mainly associated with Ferrari. Swaters drove the team Ferrari 500 in a small number of events, but did manage to take a victory at the 1953 Avusrennen, a Formula 2 race. As a driver, Swaters later concentrated in sports car racing at the hand of a Jaguar C-Type and D-Type.

After retiring from racing in 1957, Swaters became manager of the Ecurie Nationale Belge, which had been formed in 1955 as a merger of his Francorchamps, Frère's Ecurie Belgique and Johnny Claes' Ecurie Belge. The ENB entered several Cooper-Climax cars in Formula 2 racing for both experienced and upcoming Belgian drivers, and helped launch the career of Olivier Gendebien, Lucien Bianchi and Mauro Bianchi. The team moved into F1 in 1960 and later reworked the Emeryson into the ENB chassis.

However, by 1964 Swaters was no longer interested in ENB and had turned his attention to sports car racing completely. Swaters' Ecurie Francorchamps, which had remained independent from the ENB effort during the 1950s and 1960s, was always a top contender, with occasional class wins (including the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans) and frequent class podiums. An overall victory at the 1965 500km Spa was Swaters' crowning achievement as a manager.

The Ecurie Francorchamps stopped operating in 1982, but Swaters retained his Garage Francorchamps, a Ferrari dealership. Swaters last appearance in the sports car world was in an Ohio Courtroom where he was defending his possession of a very rare 1954 Ferrari 375 plus chassis 0384AM that was stolen from the U.S. collector Karl Kleve in the late 1980s. Swaters said that he bought the car as a burnt out chassis in 1990, and that he and Kleve settled its ownership in 1999.

Complete World Championship Grand Prix results

(key)
Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WDC Points
1951 Ecurie Belgique Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot Straight-6 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER
10
ITA
Ret
ESP
NC 0
1953 Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 500 Ferrari Straight-4 ARG 500 NED BEL
DNS
FRA GBR GER
7
SUI
Ret
ITA NC 0
1954 Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 500/625 Ferrari Straight-4 ARG 500 BEL
Ret
FRA GBR GER SUI
8
ITA ESP
Ret
NC 0
1955 Ecurie Filipinetti Gordini T16 Gordini Straight-6 ARG MON 500 BEL
DNA
NED GBR ITA

NC 0

To see more of who died in 2010 click here

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